News in international markets

According to the latest Timber Trade Federation (TTF) statistics, timber and panel product import volumes into the United Kingdom continued to show a steady decline in Q4 2021, as a more regular demand pattern returns to the marketplace. TTF statistics reveal that the volume of timber and panel products imported into the UK declined month-over-month between October and November 2021 by 158,000 m3.

Mayr-Melnhof Holz, one of Europe’s leading sawmilling and engineered wood products companies, announced that it has received the final approval from the competition authorities and, as a result, has completed its acquisition of the Swedish sawmill group Bergkvist Siljanh. Bergkvist Siljan produces around 850,000 m3 of spruce and pine sawn timber annually.

Stora Enso has announced that it will be investing 40 million Euros in new technology and restructuring of its fluff pulp production site in Skutskär, Sweden. The investment will enable the number of bleach lines to be reduced from three to two, improving cost competitiveness and creating opportunities for future development.

According to the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), Ireland’s forest industry remains in crisis. Delays in issuing licenses needed to plant, harvest, and transport trees to facilities for processing have been ongoing for over three years. The bottleneck is hitting house building, slowing the supply of timber and forcing many to import lumber. It has also contributed to the rise in the costs of new homes.

China’s imports of softwood lumber in 2021 declined by -26.2% year-over-year to 18.5 thousand m3. The value of those imports decreased by -6.2% to $4.1 billion. The average price of softwood lumber imported into China increased 27% to $222 per m3. This is according to Lesprom Analytics.

Al Talah Board Company, with headquarters in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), produced its first branded “Desert Board” OSB on December 14th, 2021. The Desert Board was produced in a new Dieffenbacher plant, which is using recycled date palm tree waste to manufacture the OSB boards. Al Talah Board contracted with Dieffenbacher in 2019 to create the unique OSB plant.

Parts of the operations in Rădăuți, specifically the sawmilling operations, will cease. However, the production of posts and beams at the site will remain in operation. The panel plant in Siret, which processes sawn timber from the Rădăuți mill, will be closed down in its entirety. With this step, the cutting capacity of HS Timber Group’s sawmills in Romania will be reduced by 30%.

Jartek Invest Oy, a leading supplier in Finnish sawmilling technology, has announced that it has just signed a contract to deliver green and dry sorting lines to Segezha Group as part of a large-scale modernization of their JSC Onezhsky LDK wood processing facility in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. The new lines will make the operation more efficient and help to develop wood processing and improve product quality.

Binderholz UK Holding GmbH, a subsidiary of the Austrian Binderholz Group, is reporting that it has successfully completed the acquisition of the British BSW Timber Company, based in Earlston, Scotland. With the purchase, Binderholz Group becomes Europe’s largest sawmill and solid wood processing industry company. It is estimated that with the acquisition Binderholz Group, in 2022, will have a cumulative annual turnover of €2.6 billion and around 5,000 employees.